Fires are burning hotter. They have the potential to threaten broader swaths of forest and more homes. And increasingly large chunks of government money are being used in fire suppression efforts.

So, what can be done? A lot, actually.

But it involves a re-energized commitment to change the way government approaches fire, from one that emphasizes suppression to one that prepares for fire and creates conditions that will make fire less damaging to homes, water supplies and forest health.

Let’s be clear. When fires are moving toward homes, the priority should be to save lives and property.

Fire planning, however, has to be given more thought far in advance of the day when slurry bombers are dispatched.

Local governments have to do a better job of not only of recognizing this, but mandating and enforcing ideas such as creating defensible space around homes by clearing trees and combustible fuels.

Over the last three decades, some 40 percent of new housing starts have been in the wildland-urban interface, that area bordering forest prone to wildland fires.

In addition, the average number of acres burned annually since 1995 has been on a steady and steep upward trend. Not surprisingly, costs of fighting fires have followed suit.

These metrics illustrate how wildland fire risk is growing, both in danger and in cost.

While we wouldn’t necessarily expect counties to reject developers’ plans to build in these fire-vulnerable areas, we would expect local governments to have — and enforce — strict rules about fire mitigation practices.

These are not rules that will always be popular among homeowners who might like the idea of trees right next to their house, or a stack of firewood conveniently stored under their deck.

Insofar as national policy goes, the Obama administration has to do a better job ensuring there is enough money budgeted for wildland firefighting so funds aren’t robbed from other important mitigation programs to pay for putting out flames. It happens all the time.

What makes for important mitigation? Harris Sherman, U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for natural resources and the environment, recently showed us a photo of how the Waldo Canyon fire burned in relation to forested areas where tree-thinning had occurred.

The thinned area was a buffer for residences that ultimately were bypassed by the dangerous fire, which killed two and destroyed 346 homes.

Indications are that Colorado, suffering from drought conditions, is about to embark on another serious fire season.

Policymakers, from the local level, right on up to the White House, must better plan for the new realities of living with forest fires.